1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a parts orientation feeding apparatus for feeding, among from a great multiplicity of parts or articles supplied successively in various orientations from the preceding processing station, only parts or articles having a predetermined orientation to the next processing station at a predetermined timing while keeping their orientation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. SHO 59-182112, for example, a known parts feeding apparatus used for feeding various parts of irregular profiles or cross sections to an assembling station includes a belt conveyor disposed in a feed path along which a large number of parts heaped disorderly in the bowl of a parts feeder are conveyed by vibration. The parts, as they are positively fed on the belt conveyor, are observed by a television camera. Two-dimensional image information picked up by the television camera for each part is compared to reference image information which is previously memorized in a memory device so that only the parts having a desired orientation are transferred to the next processing station by a means such as a robot, while the parts having undesired orientations are further advanced along the belt conveyor.
The known parts feeding apparatus, however, has a drawback that the parts having the desired orientation to be selected for transportation to the next processing station appear in random order during conveyance on the belt conveyor disposed within the bowl in the vibratory-type parts feeder, so that transportation of the selected parts to the next processing station and the operation of the next processing station cannot be performed at a proper timing, resulting in an oversupply or a shortage of parts at the next processing station.